Recent comments

Motherboard

A motherboard failure on a laptop that is out of warranty would usually mean that… it’s time for a new laptop. The price of a new motherboard is usually higher than the current value of the laptop.

Symptoms:

Plug in the power adaptor and try to start the laptop.

Nothing happens.

The “ON” light comes on, the fan spins, but nothing on the screen (black) and you can’t hear the HD working after 10-15 sec.

The “ON” light comes on, the fan spins, but after a few seconds the light goes off.

After pressing the “ON” button the screen stays black and you can hear a quiet high-pitched sound coming from the laptop.

Troubleshooting:

Look for the “lid closed” switch and try pushing it a few times. It’s usually a small switch near the hinges that is pressed when the lid(the screen) is closed. Sometimes these switches get stuck in the “lid closed” position that results in black screen(no backlight) or non-starting laptop. Also some laptops have a magnetic switch (newer Dell’s and most Apple’s), that doesn’t get stuck.

Test the laptop with another power adaptor. Although not common, the adaptor can fail and not supply the needed voltage even if it has a green “power on” light that lights up when you plug it in. Even if you measure the output voltage and it’s OK, the adaptor may have failed and wouldn’t supply that voltage under load (typically 3.5A to 6A). You can use an universal adaptor or go to an independent repair shop and ask them to check it (some shops will try to charge you for “estimate” for doing just that, so ask in advance).

Reset the RAM. See the article on RAM failures for instructions.

Remove the hard drive and the CD/DVD if it’s easily removable.

Finally try to start the laptop again with only the power adaptor plugged in and with the RAM reset and all removable components and the battery out. If there’s still nothing on the screen, you will need to bring it to a repair shop.

203 thoughts on “Motherboard”

Comment navigation

i have a RV510 laptop, when i put it on power, the power light indicating charging keeps on flashing on and off..it takes a lot of time for the battery to gain enough power to turn on…however when i manage to turn it on the its stops charging totally….whats the problem pliz help

My 3 years & 9 months old HP Compaq Presario CQ61 was working perfectly, however, when I turn it on, but it freezed by the first screen (black active screen with a hyphen on the top left corner of the screen).
It didn’t react to any buttons, not even the power button, so I plugged it off from the charger (Since the battery is dead and it cannot hold power even for a second).
After that I plugged it in, the LED near the charger port lit for 20-30 seconds, then the light goes off.
I tried many ways I removed the battery and charger back, didn’t work either.

hi i have goverment laptop.when i press power button that time fan is on and all processor running but screen doesnot display after 2 min off my system .again on my system now problem cleared..why did my display on after 2 min …pls help me

Black screen problem i have removed everything that can be removal, i also put the thermal paste and tested the fan, nothing… just the same light on fan on (for a few seconds) and blackscreen. So i just forgot the computer for a couple of days… and magically started working again… worked for 2days really normal, but today have the same black screen problem! Any suggestions for this malfunction?

My name is michael obi I have this problem with my laptop HP6735s initially if I try putting it on it will show the power indicator followed by the spinning of the fan then blank screen no display atall before it will mange to show but if I put the laptop off and on later again it will take time before it displays something on the screen but presently it only shows the power lights and followed by the spinning of the fan then nothing on the screen

Hi My toshiba sattelite L300, without battery, restarts/the screen get blue or white and the hdd stops but lights on, whenever i try to install win7/8, this happens as soon as it gets to expand files, it had a win7 installed before but it would happen the same after 3-5min, help

Hi! I have a laptop, Asus K55VJ-SX120D. Recently, I observed that whenI switched on the laptop power, only the power light would turn
ON and nothing would display on the screen, ie Blank black screen.
I could hear the fan running but the laptop wouldn’t go any further.
I contacted the service center and they told me that trhee is some problem with the motherboard due to high voltagepuld such a thing happen, and what may be the actual problem with my lappy and how could I prevent this problem in future? , Why

Hello, please I’ve got this issue which I suspect is from the motherboard, but really need a solution too, if possible from here.

I was charging my laptop over the night and slept off but the voltage became low but was still charging, over the night . I turned it on in the morning but did not respond, again I pressed the power button but this time the power indicator light came on, and went off.
On a third attempt, the fan started and it actually came on and worked for about 5 mins. When it showed a blue screen. The blue screen came up twice as I put it on, but later on did not come on again.
Only the fan and the indicator light comes on now. Please what’s happen, and what can I do. Thanks for your anticipated reply.

i used to shut down my laptop but it is not properly shutting down the screen goes off but the power light,battery light is still on and fan is also running.this is my second post related to this problem kindly those who knows give me a solution pls..

Every thing is working perfect but the problem is, Mecer laptop 259ii3 no sound, usb port not working and earphones are not working, the I T said the problem is in the motherboard is that true? If you switched it on it work perfect the problem is sound,usb,and earphone only